January 11, 2014

I Heard My Christmas Bells!

January 11, 2014

It has been a nice day.  I never went anywhere except the backyard.  My housekeeper came this morning and did a good job on all of the house except I didn't let her work in the living room where the Christmas tree still looked lovely in its festive decorations.  I was trying to pack away all the decorations that weren't on the tree.  Then this afternoon after she left, I tackled the tree decorations.

Ron was out this morning, but late this afternoon he put all the boxes of decorations on the shelves in the closet, out of the way until about next Thanksgiving.  It does get harder to get out the decorations each year and then to put them all away.  I hate to part with any of the old ones and we seem to continue to add a few each year.  This year some of the kids gave us ornaments and each will be treasured. 

As I packed away the ornaments, there was not too much to listen to, except the bells as I packed them.  There are several kinds of bells on our tree.  Some from far away places - Thailand, and China; some from my childhood; some from special events - there is one from a wedding where all the guests rang them after the couple was married and a couple are from the celebration last Sunday where we honored our pastor receiving his Doctor's degree in Ministry.  It was nice to be able to hear the bells.  We have a rotating stand for our Christmas tree and as I was down to the last few ornaments, I turned it on.  As it would go around I would hear the tinkle of the few remaining bells on the tree.  I don't think they rang when the tree was fully decorated, but with just a few things left, they could jiggle enough to ring.

 
When I came to the computer a few minutes ago, I heard the ice tinkle in the glass I was carrying.  There are so many sounds that surround us every day.  We don't think about a lot of them or sometimes we are just annoyed by them.  But I enjoyed the sound of the bells and of the ice in my glass.

A couple of days ago I got a letter in the mail from Ron's aunt.  She has a friend who recently got a Cochlear Implant and her friend is the second in her family to have gotten one.  The friend's mother had also had a Cochlear Implant years ago.  Included in the letter was a poem by the mother.  She has now passed away, but I enjoyed reading her poem.  It told of the joy of being able to listen to the sounds that others take for granted.  I could relate to the poem.  I am glad Ron's aunt shared it with me.  She has been a great encourager through this process.

Our son Stephen called and I talked to him on my cell phone while using the special cable from the sound processor to the phone.  I did fairly well with him, but several times had to ask him to repeat something a couple of times before I got it.  There are just phrases that I can't make out and have to keep trying.  It is easier to just pretend I understood, but I don't want to do that.  I have had too many years of that.

There have not been many birds to listen to the last few days.  Sometimes a hawk hangs around and I don't know if that is what has happened now or something else, but there have been few birds at the feeders.

This common Moorhen was out early this morning swimming out back.  There was a night heron that flew up on the bank but I couldn't tell what kind because he quickly hid out in the weeds.  I had hoped to do some birding today because it was so beautiful, but the Christmas tree needed my attention instead.

I am trying to do more exercises with my weak arm.  I guess in some ways I have not pushed enough with it.  It is so hard to know the proper limits.  Sometimes it hurts when I do particular movements, but the pain stops the minute the movement stops, so I don't think there is a problem doing it.  Apparently Medicare pays for a set amount of Physical Therapy per year and I had not reached it, but guess I was close enough that the doctor didn't want to risk using it all and then something coming up where I needed more.  I see him again in about 6 or 8 weeks.  We will see then what he thinks. 

Just had another conversation with Stephen and clarified a couple of things from the earlier conversation that I realized I wasn't sure if I had heard correctly.  I had not.  I do wish I could hear better on the phone.